11.15pm

Ricky's report of the Killie game is now available.

6pm

Today's result: Kilmarnock 2, Motherwell 0.

A poor defensive performance saw Motherwell go down 2-0 to Kilmarnock at Rugby Park this afternoon, a repeat of the scoreline between the teams in the Scottish Cup last Saturday.  It was a different game to last week though as we at least created some chances, but sadly some glaring misses coupled with comedy defending resulted in us heading back up the A77 with zero points.

There were two changes to the team from last week's match, with Partridge and Quinn replacing Kinniburgh and Fitzpatrick, both of whom were relegated to the bench.

We got off to the worst possible start by conceding a goal in the opening minute.  Stevie Hammell didn't do enough to prevent McDonald from playing a deep cross into the box, and an unmarked Nish headed into the path of an equally unmarked Boyd who scored from around 4 yards.  We eventually managed to get going in the game, with both McDonald and Corrigan (playing in midfield again) having efforts on goal.  There then following two unbelievable misses, one from each side.  Scott McDonald found himself with a clear run in on goal, but instead of pulling the trigger he elected to play a square ball to Clarkson which was intercepted by a defender.  Killie's Naismith missed a sitter when he somehow put the ball wide when it seemed easier to score, but the home side did find the net again - and like last week it was right on the stroke of half time.  Boyd turned Craigan all too easily and had the time and space to sidefoot the ball past Gordon Marshall and into the bottom corner of the net.

The second half saw Motherwell carve out another two glorious opportunities, but unbelievably we weren't able to hit the target with either of them.  Firstly McDonald was clean through on goal, but with just the keeper to beat he managed to put the ball wide.  Then came the worst miss of them all, when Clarkson was played in by McDonald.  Despite being only 10 yards from goal and with just the goalkeeper to beat, Clarkson somehow elected NOT to shoot, but instead attempted to take the ball round the keeper.  When his shot eventually came in, it was into the side netting.  There were few other incidents of note in the second half, although Marshall was called into action late on to tip an effort over the bar.

This was another poor performance from Motherwell, and while Kilmarnock are most certainly NOT a good time, they've now twice beaten us comfortably in the past seven days.  It has to be said that our defending today was absolutely abysmal, and the fact that Kris Boyd could find himself unmarked 4 yards out for the opening goal today really says it all.  Stephen Craigan is shadow of the player he was last season, and if any decent offers are received for Stevie Hammell during the transfer window then perhaps TB should think seriously about accepting them.  At the other end of the park, surely the time has now come for David Clarkson to be dropped.  His miss today simply summed up his recent performances, and while I don't know much about Kenny Wright he surely can't be any worse than Clarkson has been recently.

Today's result coupled with Hearts' win mean we drop to sixth in the league table, just one point ahead of Killie.  With Celtic and Hibs coming up in the next two weeks, it's difficult to see where the next win is going to come from.

Team (4-4-2): Marshall, Quinn, Craigan, Partridge, Hammell, McBride, Corrigan, Leitch (Fagan 79), Foran (Fitzpatrick 59), Clarkson (Wright 85), McDonald.
Subs not used: Corr, Kinniburgh, Higgins, Smith.

Booked: Leitch, McBride.

Attendance: 5,225.

Terry Butcher's post match comments were as follows:
"It was like Groundhog Day. I hope we don't come back here for a long, long time!  It was a massive blow for us to go a goal down like that, but I thought we bounced back really well, played some good football and controlled the match.  Even when the second goal went in, we still had the belief at half-time that we could get something and we had numerous chances in the second half, but Kilmarnock had some good chances as well.  It is not as though we have played particularly badly.  We didn't play well last week and we did much, much better this week, but it was the same end result."

It turns out that Tam McManus has signed for Dundee.  The former Hibs striker was expected to sign an 18-month deal with Motherwell, but TB pulled out of the deal as he didn't want to break our wage structure.  It seems McManus' agent was looking for his client to be paid 25% more than our current top earners.

Butcher was quoted as saying:
"I pulled the plug due to the money we were being asked for compared to what was on offer from Dundee, which was no where near which we can afford.  I am not prepared to break our wage structure for any player, no matter who they are.

"Agents are pushing players towards clubs during the transfer windows when its not in the best interest of the player, you only need to look at some of the players who have left here in recent times.  Look at Keith Lasley who has moved to Plymouth, where it’s been hard for his family and now he isn’t playing every week. Sometimes the players need to sacrifice a small amount of pounds in their pocket to pick the correct club.  If a player has aspirations he should be looking to come to a stable club like ours that is in the top six and getting players picked in International squads. In the end the players need to remember that Agents have their own agenda which is not always the same as the players."

Incidentally, McManus scored on his Dundee debut this afternoon.

Stephen Craigan signed a new contract during the week that ties him to Motherwell until 2008.

The opening hours of the ticket office at Fir Park have been extended to allow fans every opportunity to purchase tickets for the League Cup semi final against Hearts.  Remember, the general sale of tickets starts on Monday.

Full details of the ticket office opening hours are available from the Official Site.

St Johnstone have made a contract offer to David Cowan.  The 22-year-old, who has hardly played for Motherwell due to injury, will inform the Perth side of his decision on Monday.

Motherwell lost 2-1 to Queen of the South in a midweek closed door match.  Don't have any further details of the game I'm afraid.

Click here for an interesting tribalfootball.com article on Scott McDonald.

Looks as though we can expect a significant hike in season ticket prices for next year.  Details available here.

Where would YOU like to see the League Cup Semi Final taking place?  Vote now!